True Left

Perhaps this is what we need right now..... miss those days, miss those people, miss that age....

It’s been 30 years since Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie wrote the classic “We Are the World”. A decade and a half into the 21st century, the tone among our generation is shifting towards “We Are the First World”. In last year’s European Parliament elections, the Front National won 23 out of France’s 74 seats. In the United Kingdom, the infamous UK Independence Party finished third in the general election, beating the Liberal Democrats, previously one of the “big three” British parties. In Germany, the islamophobic movement PEGIDA managed to gather 25,000 lost souls at a rally in Dresden in January, less than a month after the organization was founded.

Bigotry and tribal attitudes are of course not a new phenomenon. To the discredit of our species, they are as old as mankind itself. However, the far-right being considered a more attractive alternative to the status quo than the left by young people is a fairly recent development. Since 9/11, mass media has made it, in a more or less subtle manner, once more fashionable to divide the world into the “civilized” West and the “barbaric” rest. While more apathetic youths are embracing skinny jeans, vinyl and mediocre Indie Rock-bands ripping off the sounds of the 60s and 70s, another, even more cynic segment is emerging which embraces the outlook and values of the 1950s.

Let’s be honest for a moment. In its present state, the left has little to offer to counter this trend. Whereas the right has mastered the art of catering to the lowest common denominator, the left keeps on begging people to be “tolerant”. Yet tolerance is a non-value. In effect, tolerance means turning a blind eye to things you actually loathe deep inside. Now imagine what that means for the whole rhetoric about tolerating other ethnic, social or religious groups. By urging people to be tolerant, the left is implying that there is indeed something wrong with other groups. The only difference between the right and the left in this regard is that the left claims that we have to put up with them, while the right claims that we should not. The right is never tired of coming up with reasons why not to put up with other groups. Defending tolerance in turn is impossible, since it means arguing that something deemed bad should be left untouched.

Not that today’s left would straight up call something bad though. The fallacy of tolerance hints at a deeper issue with the left, namely that all values are considered to be purely subjective. This means that right and wrong is not a matter of ethics, but a matter of calculation. Whatever satisfies the largest number of people is good, whatever does not is bad. This of course is a hilariously weak foundation for a position driven exclusively by idealism. The fear- and arrogance-driven right on the other hand has a much easier time mobilizing its supporters. The injection of relativism into leftist thought has ensured that the left now stands paralyzed. By supporting the principles of democracy, the left is actively paving the way towards right-wing mob rule.

Things don’t have to be this way though. Exposing the right for the hypocrites and fearmongers they are is not that difficult. However, in order to succeed, a change in approach is needed on part of the left. Relativism needs to be scrapped once and for all. Once the left has established its values as absolute, egalitarianism will fall as well, since now people can be judged by their ability to live up to these standards. This is the one fatal blow to any form of in-group-out-group-thinking, since morality depends entirely on the individual person and is not limited by ethnicity, gender or social status. Finally, the left will no longer be constrained by the principles of democracy, which has proven to be the right-wing’s loyal friend. With this approach, victory is only a matter of time. This is what the True Left is all about.

What is the True Left and why is it needed?

It’s been 30 years since Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie wrote the classic “We Are the World”. A decade and a half into the 21st century, the tone among our generation is shifting towards â...

The True Left · trueleftblog.wordpress.com